The Humility Gap (Lisa Harper)

0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:07.840 I loved y'all so much. I usually love every church 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.080 I get to go to, small, big, stiff, Wiggley. I 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.000 just love the House of God. But some churches don't 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.239 like me so much. And I was in one of 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:19.439 those not too long ago. I won't tell you where 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.840 it is, just in case you have cousins there, but 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.200 rhymes with Pennsylvania. And I knew. I knew I wasn't 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.280 going to be warmly received because it was just it 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.440 was just more of a formal setting, and I'm not 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.000 very formal, and so when the women picked me up 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.479 from the airport, it was just it was crickets all 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.440 the way to the conference. And then we get to 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.600 the conference and they had what they called the fellowship time, 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:47.280 which means you usually eat carbs and cold coffee and 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.879 make small talk in the fellowship hall before you go 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.480 into the main part of the sanctuary. And I stood around. 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.080 I thought they need to re christen this the stiff 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.680 and Hateful Hall, because nobody's talking, like nobody's chatting, And 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:03.560 so I just kept kind of moving from group to 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.399 group trying to find somebody who would talk, and finally 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.480 somebody introduced me to the worship leader for that particular conference, 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:13.959 and she wasn't from that area, and she seemed friendly, 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.800 and I thought, cool, we can be aliens and strangers together. 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.920 And so I introduced myself to the worship leader. I'm 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.000 gonna call her Wanda. That's not her real name, but 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:23.960 I said, Wanda, I'm so glad you're here. You know, 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:25.640 I don't know anybody here, and she was like, I 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.319 don't either, and so an effort to connect further, I 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.360 started to tease. I don't know if y'all do that 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.240 when you first meet people, you kind of start teasing 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.240 with them, unk, you know. And I said, well, Wanda, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.600 you might want to watch me when you start playing 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.720 a real up tempost song, because I might just break 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:44.680 out into a worship dance. Now I was teasing. I know, 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.440 we've got a couple of dancers here, and it's a 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.920 biblical thing. It's a totally biblical thing. There's Preston's and scripture. 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.160 David even says we should. But I grew up half Baptist. 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.320 My mom's Baptist to the bone. My dad was Pentecostal. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:03.160 So the Baptist in me long to dance. The Pentecostal 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.640 in me tries to dance, but the old pale woman 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.040 that I am can't dance, and so it's just it's 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:12.240 just a real juxtaposition for me. So I was just 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:13.919 teasing with Wanda, and I said, you may I want 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:15.840 to watch me because I'll break out into worship dance. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:17.680 And then you know, when you're teasing with somebody you 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.320 don't know, and you can tell by the way they're 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.160 listening to you, they think you're being serious. They don't 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.760 realize you're you're kid yet, and I thought, gosh, I 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:26.240 need to tell I was just playing because I don't 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:28.360 want to think I was being disrespectful because there is 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.000 liturgical dance in scripture, and so I thought, when we 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.359 have a second I'll qualify that so she knows I'm 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:38.040 not playing. Well. Then they separated us. Then the conference started. 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.320 It was real, very very serious, and so I thought 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:42.760 I'll talk to her at the end of conference, but 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.680 they took us our separate ways. So the next morning, 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:47.440 I was like, I've got to see Wanda for it 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.400 starts to tell her that I was just kidding about 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:52.880 the whole dancing thing, and so I'm starting to talk 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.000 to her. They lead us in. It wasn't a house 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.839 like elevation. It was a real it's just a real 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.440 serious church. They had like, you know, polished pews all 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.440 the way back and all the stained glass windows, pipe 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:06.880 organ and so they usher wanding up to the front. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.959 They had two little, short, diagonally opposed pews like big 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.679 enough for I don't know, two skinny keto girls or 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:16.560 tunky chick with a bible. So I was on one 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.040 little diagonal pew and one is on the other pew, 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.000 and so I lean over to tell her remember last 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:23.000 night when I said about it, well, why does start 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.800 and explain it to her? The lady who was hostessing 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:28.120 the event comes up. She's very very serious war hoos 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.079 and she was like one to you know, I need 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.680 you to start worship now. And so one is like, okay, 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.720 hatn't got to explain it. Wanda stands up. She's a 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.320 real perky worship leader. Didn't fit the whole setting, but 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.840 she stands up and she goes exactly like this holly 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:46.600 to me. She goes and then she comes up and 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.600 I don't know how to explain what I felt to 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.120 that moment, but it's just this deep sense of foreboding. 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.400 I thought, just something about this didn't feel good to me. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.480 She walks up and Chris, they didn't have like a 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.680 cool keyboard. They didn't have one of those old upright pianos. 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.440 I remember those that as the high back. And so 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.160 one of goes plays a song on the piano, kind 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.920 of a hymn, and then she stops. There's about I 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.200 don't know, three hundred women on the pews, very lot 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:17.120 of match outfits, and she leans out from behind the 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.200 piano and she went, ladies, I have got such a 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:26.240 treat for you this morning. And then she gestures to 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.640 me and she goes, hey, lo just she goes, Lisa 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:34.359 is a worship dancer. And then she grabs this package. 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.880 I hadn't noticed until that point. Scrabs this package on 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.240 top of the piano. It's this long package, comes all 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.159 the way off the stage, comes down to grind sitting. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.120 I'm sitting where you are, Holly. She unwraps this package 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:49.400 and unfurls this massive, like five by seven foot purple 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:53.400 flag with the alpha and the omega and gold glitter 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.440 on the flag, and then she, you know, presents it 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.160 to me with a flourish like we've planned this. And 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:04.880 then a second she goes heads back up on stage. Now, y'all, 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.240 the women are stiff. Wanda isn't and is evidently a 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.800 little oblivious the women are stiff. She starts playing this 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:15.039 real up tempo probably an elevation song, a real uptempo song, 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.520 and then she goes like gestures to me like, now 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.440 it's time for your routine. And I'm holding this massive flag, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:24.800 and you know, nobody's even singing with her. They're just 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:28.520 and I'm holding this flag, and I thought this is 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.720 like a Saturday night life skip, like I don't I 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.000 don't know where to go from here. And then I 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.720 have just a smedge of prodigal in me, and I thought, 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:43.680 she's my only friend and these women probably need to 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.200 be just poked a little bit. And so I started 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.720 to dance, and the only thing I knew to do, 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:52.920 because the flag was heavy, was just to do kind 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.640 of this big squirl with a flag and women are 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.800 laying either way. Well, Wanda was charismatic. So the song, 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.800 I said, like seventeen minutes says one a song, And 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.400 so I thought I can't hold anymore, Like my what 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:07.880 hanging down part is starting to cramp. I was like, 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.479 I don't know what to do, and so I thought, well, 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.839 this is probably my last public dance, and so and 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.560 this is straight up truth. I'll tell you if I 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:17.680 was lying in church, I went all the way up 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.560 to the front of the of the church and I 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.520 kind of got to run and start because I've seen 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.520 people do this at Joyce Myer events and I've always 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.800 wanted to try it. And I started running. I'm going 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.159 to have to do this to show y'all what I did. 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:38.080 I started running and then I swept instead a grunt 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:43.279 to take with a flag, And y'all, what was hilarious. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.880 I probably should have worn a sports braw for that. 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.400 But but what it was hilarious is you could hear 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:54.800 this collective gas people like all the women swept. But 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.320 I didn't think God was disappointed. I felt like God 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:04.279 was leaning over going Jesus, you've got to see what 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:11.200 she's doing this morning. I am, y'all funny, y'all, it's funny. 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.000 I am so much more Laurel and hearty than I 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:21.400 am Shakira and j Lo. I do not have it altogether. 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.280 My life plays out more like a bloop of real 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.280 than a press release. But at fifty eight, what I'm learning. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.400 I keep saying sixty because sixty is just like a 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.920 little over a year away for me. So I keep 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:35.680 saying sixty so I get used to it. The thing 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:40.120 I love about this age isn't just the discounts at McDonald's. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:45.080 It's that I can look back over fifty years of 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.720 walking with Jesus and I can go, you know what, 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:52.000 It's really not about my capacity. It's about his compassion. 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.880 It's not about whether I have it all together. It's 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.440 about Jesus. What I'm learning, and I'm a slow learner, 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.680 but what I'm learning, y'all is if you really want 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.360 to access intimacy with God, if you really want to 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:11.559 commune with God, the key is humility. And Rick Warren 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.960 says it well. I usually attribute this to C. S. 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:16.440 Lewis because it sounds like something Sir Lewis would say. 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.920 It's actually Rick Warren, pastor in California. He says, humility 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.520 is not thinking less of ourselves. I think in American 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.600 Christian culture we tend to think humility is, oh no, 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.640 it's not about me. Well, that's actually just narcissism and 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.720 a nicer outfit. That's not humility. That's still drawing all 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.920 attention to yourself. Woe is me is not humility. Rick 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:42.400 Warren says, humility isn't thinking less of yourself. It's just 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:47.080 thinking of yourself less. It's just being so preoccupied with Jesus, 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.960 being so distracted, so discombobulated by his kindness, his goodness, 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.960 his accessibility, that we're just not very focused on ourselfs anymore. 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.880 I think humility is the key to intimacy see with God. 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:07.280 I think humility is necessary for worship. My posthumous pretend 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:13.040 theological boyfriend, aw Tosier says it like this. He says, 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:19.439 it takes humility to worship God acceptably. It takes humility 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.719 to worship God acceptably. So it's it's the it's the 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.800 the way that we commune with God. It's the way 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:32.080 we effectively adequately worship God. I also think it's a 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:37.480 harbinger for divine glory. It's kind of like this. You know, 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.680 the most common bread in almost all of the Southern 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.040 Hemisphere for the last I don't know, four or five centuries. 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.920 I read this is the lowly tortilla chip because of 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:53.640 or I should say tortilla, because of the relative cheapness 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.920 of corn and how how easily it's grown in hot, 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.880 humid areas. And so they've got tortillas. Totorya is a 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.760 no big deal. They're just they're just common. But but 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:09.559 if you cut a tortilla into triangles and you deep 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.520 fry it, and if you're a Christian, you deep fried 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:17.920 in lard, and then you you dip that triangle into 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:23.000 a that of case. So then well that that becomes 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:29.319 the conduit for a life changing culinary experience, y'all. That's humility. 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:34.720 Humility actually leads us to glory, the kind of divine 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.400 glory that we read about in the Old Testament, but 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.839 we so rarely experience in our culture. And I think 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.120 it's because we've gotten a little too proud. But we 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:47.080 wrap verses around our pride and call it humble. So 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.160 we're going to talk this morning, just for a minute 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:54.000 about true humility. If you'll turn to first Samuel, I'm 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:58.760 gonna show you the the proof of why I think 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.760 humility is to glory, what ships and q so are 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:08.240 to life change, First Samuel, and we're going to be 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:14.480 looking at chapter two, verses twelve to twenty six. Now, 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.880 the sons of Eli were worthless men, they did not 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.560 know the Lord. The custom of the priest with the 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.520 people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.200 servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.880 three pronged fork in his hand, and he would trust 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.360 it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron or pot. 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.439 All that the brought up the priest would take for himself. 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.640 This is what they did at Shiloh to all the 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.199 Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.520 the priest's servant would come and say to the man 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.480 who was sacrificing, give meat for the priest to roast, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.040 for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.720 only raw. And if the man said to him, let 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.400 them burn the fat first and then take as much 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.760 as you wish, he would say, no, you must give 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.320 it now, and if not, I take it by force. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.160 Thus the sin of the young men was very great 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:06.240 in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.679 the offering of the Lord with contempt. Samuel was ministering 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.280 before the Lord a boy clothed with a linen. Ephod 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.040 and his mother used to make for him a little 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:17.240 robe and take it to him each year when she 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.200 went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.959 Then Eli would bless el Caana, Samuel's daddy and his wife, 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:26.800 and say, may the Lord give you children by this 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:29.120 woman for the petition she asked of the Lord so 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.720 they would return home. Indeed, the Lord visited Hannah, and 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.200 she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters, and 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:39.679 the young man Samuel, grew in the presence of the Lord. 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:44.439 You probably remember Samuel's story. It's one of the favorite 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.679 stories I saw Flannel graft when I was growing up. 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:51.199 Babdocostel and Samuel was born to a woman who struggled 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:55.280 with infertility named Hannah. The reason I love Hannah is 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.839 not only that she was patient, which is something I've 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.240 been praying for for five decades. Y'all. Remember, she had 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.760 a sister wife that was back when polygamy was a norm, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.800 and she had to put up with his sister wife 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.960 named Panina, who had all these kids. She was fertile, 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.839 Myrtle and then Hannah short of them. Utilly didn't have 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:14.079 any kids, and Panina was a big braggart. And when 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:17.720 they drove to Costco, She's made Hannah's life miserable. And 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.439 so Hannah went to church. I'm taking the tiniest bit 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.200 of liberty with Hebrew, but this is what it would 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:26.000 play out like. Now. They go to church and Hannah 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.440 goes to the altar and is grieving with such drama 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:33.280 that the priest Eli who's mentioned here, thinks she's had 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.600 one too many mimosas before small group, and so the 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.840 priest chastises her, and she says, no, sir, I haven't 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.720 been drinking. I'm just travailing before the Lord because my 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.840 heart has been broken for so long and it has 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.960 just devastated me that I've never been able to curate children. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.280 And I know what that feels like because I didn't 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.079 become a mom until the age of fifty through the 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.160 miracle of adoption. So I know what it feels like 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.360 to travail, especially on Mother's Day or Christmas. You wish 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.960 there's more than yours and your dogs talking hanging on 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.840 the fireplace. Nothing wrong with dogs, but that's all I 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:11.880 had until the age of fifty. So identify with Hannah. 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.480 And then she gets pregnant because our Lord is so kind, 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.400 and she names her son Samuel, which means the Lord hears, 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:21.960 and after he's weaned. She takes him to the temple 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.760 and dedicates him and says, this is going to be 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.760 like his boarding school. And she says to the priest Eli, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.400 I want you to raise him up in the ways 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.200 of God. I want my boy to love God. I 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.640 want my boy to give his life for kingdom purposes. Well, 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:40.040 Eli already had two sons, so he effectively adopts Samuel. 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:43.200 But he's got two older sons, Hofney and Phineas. And 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.760 these boys are players. These boys were raised in the 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.160 house of God. They were fluent in the ways of God, 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.880 but they flouted the will of God because they were 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.000 more interested in satisfying their own appetites than they were 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.200 in honoring God or serving God or submitting to God's will. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.760 And so even though they were more than familiar with 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.120 Torah or people who are trying to be fancy and 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.800 pressure what dinner parties will say to Rah, but that's 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:08.920 just the Hebrew version of the first five books of 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.120 the Old Testament. They were familiar with that. And in 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:18.040 the Hebrew scriptures, God very specifically said here's the template 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.600 I want you to apply to sacrifice this and he said, 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:24.800 when people bring meat to church, to temples what they 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:26.840 called it back then, when they bring meat to church 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.320 as an offering, I want you all to use a 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.280 three pronged fork. I've studied this, I can't prove it. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.800 I'm almost sure that's where we get the vernacular pot 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.680 luck supper, because people would put meat in a pot 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:42.120 and then the priest had to poke a three pronged 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.280 fork into the pot, and whatever they brought up was 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:49.320 their protein for the day. And so Hafni and phineas 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:53.200 the sons of Eli, the priest whose lineage goes back 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:57.520 to Aaron, the first priest of Israel. So they had very, 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:02.960 very impeccable blue blood when it comes to be in preased. 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.360 I mean, if these guys were living today, Mother Teresa 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.800 and Billy Graham and Spurgeon and maybe Stephen Ferdick although 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:11.600 he's not dead, would be on their twenty three ae 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:15.720 me Tree. I mean, they just incredible legacy with regards 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.440 to people who love God in their backstory. But they 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.480 just ignored all that because they decide, we don't want 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.680 pot luck, we want to know what we're getting. So 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.840 they set up a system in the parking lot of 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.320 the temple and they begin accosting worshipers, so before they 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:33.800 could even get to make their sacrifice, they'd be like, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:35.480 what you got in that yettie, Let me see give 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.040 me those places, give me, give me that Kobe. And 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.240 they set up a system where they took the meat 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.560 before it was sacrificed. They took the choicest cuts. They 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:47.120 had traggers set up in the parking lot. And that's 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.640 why God says they're worthless men. And he says, Eli, 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.640 you are not teaching your sons what it is to 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:59.840 bow their knees before me. He said, Samuel is base 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:04.960 an orphan, and Samuel Samuel and patting himself on the 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.680 back and dislocating his shoulder. Samuel is not impressed with himself. 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.080 Samuel's impressed with me. So God says, Samuel's growing up 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.480 while your boys are growing out. The word in Hebrew 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:22.360 for weight is cavode, is the same word for honor 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:26.480 and for chubby. And God tells Eli, your sons are 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:31.000 getting pretty thick, brother, because they're eating all that marbled me. 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:38.480 And he goes on to chastise Eli. In verse twenty 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.840 nine of chapter two, he says, why then do you 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:45.040 scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.720 honor your sons above me by fattening yourself on the 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.880 choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel. Therefore, 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.520 the Lord, the God of Israel, declares, I promised that 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.840 your house, in the house of your father, should go 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.320 in an out before me. But now the Lord declares, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.960 far be it from me. For those who honor me, 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.520 I will honor, and those who despise me shall be 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.800 lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.920 cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.359 so that there will not be an old man in 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.119 your house. Then, in distress, you will look with envious 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.399 eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.920 and there shall not be an old man in your 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.520 house forever. The only one of you whom I shall 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:29.600 not cut off from my altar shall be spared to 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:31.959 weep his eyes out to grieve his heart. And all 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.399 the descendants of your house shall die by the sword 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.560 of men. And this shall come upon your two sons, 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.080 Hoftni and Phineas shall be assigned to you. Both of 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.919 them shall die on the same day. We go on 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:49.400 to read the Hofti Infinius. Their destructive appetites led them 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.199 to the point they spiraled to the point that they 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:53.880 were actually getting jiggy with women who were coming into 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:58.200 volunteer at church. So they added sexual abuse to their gluttony. 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:02.080 And these these were bad guys. Y'all their sons of 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.840 one of the high priests of Israel. We tend to 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:09.680 think that legacy. We equate legacy with effective leadership. Legacy 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:17.040 without humility is destructive. Legacy without humility leads to entitlement, 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.160 which leads to lunacy. I love that Chris said, don't 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.639 always give your kids what they want when they want it. 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:25.800 I'm not going to talk about parenting. I've only been 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.720 a parent for ten years and Missy is now a teenager, 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:30.920 and so I can't say anything. I'm afraid I'll be 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.359 struck by lightning because we're just starting to have a 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.160 little emotion at our house, even though she's an amazing kid, 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:42.639 much easier parent than I am deserving. But I'm not 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.040 going to talk about parenting. I am going to talk 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:50.080 about our calling as christ followers. If you had the privilege, 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:55.320 the undeserved privilege of having Christian parents. Goodness gracious, that 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.560 does not mean that you're going to be a great leader. 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:02.600 It means that you should every single day go thank 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.520 you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.120 that I had legacy in my house, that I heard 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:13.560 these stories when I was a kid. Without humility, legacy 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.240 becomes entitlement. And that's what we're seeing all over culture. 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.720 I'm not going to name names, but how many businesses 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:27.119 have you seen absolutely fall apart when the sun takes 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.600 over and the dad led really, really well. The dad 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:32.480 built it from the ground up, and then the sun 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:37.199 takes over with his bentley and his whatever addiction, and 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:40.800 within ten years they're no longer traded. And when another 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:46.680 ten years they're belly of Now. That is sad when 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:48.840 you open up Wall Street and read about those kind 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:53.560 of businesses. Sadder still are churches when you see a 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.720 pasture who loves the Lord, and he's got a team 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.360 of men and women who love the Lord, and there's 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.960 honor and there's integrity in the house, and then you 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:06.800 see a young leader come in. And I'm not against youth. 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.760 Goodness gracious, I pray for a young man on ey harmony. 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:14.720 So I am not at all opposed to youth. But 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.959 if you see a youth begin to lead and they 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:21.119 get a platform before they have the scaffolding of humility, 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:26.080 they will topple because legacy does not equate to leadership. 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:32.080 Legacy and humility become leadership. We've got to be aware 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.080 that we've all got clay feet. We've got to be 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.160 aware that the hope doesn't rest on us, at rest 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:42.040 on Jesus. Hafi and Phineas completely forget that they fly 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.200 out the ways of God and the Paul Harvey part 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:50.159 of their story. The second half is heartbreakingly sad. Flip 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.760 over a page to chapter four. A man of Benjamin 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:56.560 ran from the battle line. This is verse Samuel fod 0:21:56.680 --> 0:22:01.000 verse twelve, with his clothes torn, dirt on his head. 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:04.240 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a seat by 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.280 the road, watching for his heart trembled for the ark 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:12.600 of God. Do you remember what the ark of God was? Young? Talkback, 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:15.840 I'm not your pastor Joe, remember what it was? Remember 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.760 Harrison fore chased it. Arc in Hebrew just means a box. 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:23.000 Fancy word. It just means a box. And the ark 0:22:23.040 --> 0:22:24.679 of God or sometimes you call it the ark of 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.000 the Covenant. For the Israelites, these relights where God's chosen people. 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.280 That just means God set his favor on this motley 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:34.160 crew of people group, and he said, I'm gonna set 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.760 my favor on y'all, and for the rest of time, 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:40.080 people are gonna look at you as a symbol of 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:42.679 the kind of intimacy that people can have with me. 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:45.040 So I'm gonna set you apart. I'm I'm gonna call 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:48.040 you a theocracy. Fancy word. That just means he set 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:51.320 his favor on them first, and then forever more people 0:22:51.320 --> 0:22:55.680 will go, oh, God actually wants a relationship with us. 0:22:56.160 --> 0:22:59.280 Previous to the theocracy of Israel, people thought God was 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:03.800 the sun. That was the Roman Egyptian idea. They thought 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:05.680 God was the sun. You can't commune with the sun, 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:08.920 don't wear sunscreen, the sun will fry you. And so 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:13.359 the Hebrew God, who began Gudeo Christianity, said I want 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:17.560 actually real relationship with you. So Israel, I'm gonna set 0:23:17.560 --> 0:23:20.040 you apart. I'm gonna commune with you, I'm gonna actually 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:22.960 talk with you. There's gonna be boundaries for you to 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:25.440 live a blessed, blessed life. They're not rules. I hate 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:28.119 it when people call the Ten Commandments rules. They're like 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:30.359 the the bumper reels at the bowling alley that keep 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:34.000 your ball from going in the gutter. They're felt bumpers. 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:36.600 I'm gonna give you these parameters because I love you, 0:23:36.840 --> 0:23:40.080 because you're my people. I'm gonna institute something called Sabbath. 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.920 That's not so you can't wear, you know, shorts on Sunday. 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:46.520 That's not so you can't have belly rings that you show, 0:23:46.600 --> 0:23:50.800 preferably not in church unless you're really lean that. That's 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:55.120 not a punitive decree. Sabbath was given to a group 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:57.880 of people. All they knew was slavery. They've just come 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:00.360 out of slavery. That's all they know. And God says, 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:02.160 you're not going to understand this now. But I'm giving 0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:05.680 you something called Shabbat, and that means one day a week. 0:24:06.040 --> 0:24:08.440 I want you to work. I want you to gather 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:10.840 around the table, and I want you to eat carbs 0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:14.119 because kito is from the devil. And I want you 0:24:14.240 --> 0:24:17.200 to look at each other's eyes, and I want you 0:24:17.240 --> 0:24:18.800 to enjoy each other, and I want you to have 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:20.840 fellowship and I want you to remember how much I 0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:26.200 love you. Sabbath Shabbat is about relationship. I'm a relational God. 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:29.119 He's always been a relational God, and so he's told 0:24:29.119 --> 0:24:31.359 them from the very beginning, I love you, I'm for you. 0:24:31.440 --> 0:24:34.800 I love you, I'm for you. Hofei and Phineas just said, Nah, 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:38.560 we want to do it our own way, y'all. They 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:42.240 knew those parameters, they knew who God, what, they had 0:24:42.280 --> 0:24:46.520 heard their daddy praying, and they just didn't care. They 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:49.879 wanted to fill their own bellies. How often have you 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:52.320 stopped in a moment? Or I better said, as the 0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:57.399 Holy Spirit stopped you and you went, what do I 0:24:57.440 --> 0:25:04.160 want to do? He said, Actually, your will isn't quite 0:25:04.160 --> 0:25:08.720 as important as God's, and you went, it is today, 0:25:09.600 --> 0:25:14.440 and you are oppositionally defiant even though you know God, y'all. 0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:17.840 I am a grace girl through and through. I love 0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:21.840 the unmerited favor of God as the only reason I'm here. 0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:27.760 I am a grace piglet. I love the unmerited favor 0:25:27.880 --> 0:25:31.440 of God. But I'm also a word woman. And if 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:36.960 you study scripture, God doesn't play. God does not allow 0:25:37.320 --> 0:25:42.920 willful sin to continue indefinitely. There is a point where 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:46.520 God brings a consequence, not because he's mean, but because 0:25:46.520 --> 0:25:49.720 he's merciful, and he doesn't want us to get so 0:25:49.920 --> 0:25:53.440 far removed from him that we can't find our way back. 0:25:54.160 --> 0:26:00.560 Hafni infineus goodness gracious. Of all people who knew God's will, 0:26:00.680 --> 0:26:03.800 they were the ones who shouldn't have wandered. Their father 0:26:04.040 --> 0:26:07.920 was in the ministry, this man of Benjamin. He came 0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:11.760 back to Eli, and Eli was skeered because he didn't 0:26:11.760 --> 0:26:13.960 know what had happened to the ark of the Lord. 0:26:14.040 --> 0:26:18.080 The box that carried the relics that proved that God 0:26:18.160 --> 0:26:21.359 loved the Israelite. Y'all remember what those relics were in 0:26:21.400 --> 0:26:25.399 the big box, A jar of barbecue potato ships we 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:28.840 would call it manna. And then the staff that had 0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:34.040 butted miraculously pieces of the Ten Commandments. Those were relics 0:26:34.040 --> 0:26:36.359 that proved. So they were like, hey, we weren't smoking 0:26:36.359 --> 0:26:41.040 something medicinal. This really happened. He really gave these words 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:43.560 to Moses on top of Mount Sinai. He was really 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:46.680 with us in the wilderness. That ark of the Covenant 0:26:46.920 --> 0:26:51.960 was precious to them. I trade Bibles usually every ten years, 0:26:52.920 --> 0:26:54.720 but my dad wrote in this one, and my dad 0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:58.560 passed away in twenty twelve. This is precious to me. 0:26:59.119 --> 0:27:02.480 It's precious to me. I don't care if I lose 0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:04.600 my purse. I care if I lose my Bible. I 0:27:04.600 --> 0:27:08.080 care if I leave my Bible in an airport or 0:27:08.119 --> 0:27:12.159 a hotel. I'm the Ark of the Covenant. That was 0:27:12.680 --> 0:27:16.080 that was the crown jewel of Israel. And so Eli 0:27:16.400 --> 0:27:19.399 is afraid because the Philistines, who were the arch enemy 0:27:19.920 --> 0:27:23.280 of Israel, they always wanted to steal the Ark of 0:27:23.320 --> 0:27:25.600 the Covenant. And when the man came into the city 0:27:25.640 --> 0:27:27.639 and told the news, all the city cried out. When 0:27:27.720 --> 0:27:30.119 Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, what 0:27:30.359 --> 0:27:33.000 is this uproar? Then the man hurried and came and 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:36.239 told Eli. Now, Eli was ninety eight years old, and 0:27:36.280 --> 0:27:38.440 his eyes were set so that he could not see. 0:27:38.440 --> 0:27:41.000 In other words, he was blind, but he can hear everything. 0:27:41.040 --> 0:27:43.360 And the man said to Eli, I am he who 0:27:43.400 --> 0:27:46.359 has come from the battle. I fled from the battle today. 0:27:46.440 --> 0:27:48.880 And he said, how did it go? My son? He 0:27:48.920 --> 0:27:52.520 who brought the news answered and said, Israel has fled 0:27:52.560 --> 0:27:55.560 before the Philistines. And there has also been a great 0:27:55.600 --> 0:28:00.280 defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hoffni and Finishiness, 0:28:00.560 --> 0:28:04.120 are dead, and the Ark of God has been captured. 0:28:04.520 --> 0:28:06.680 As soon as he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli 0:28:06.760 --> 0:28:08.840 fell over backward from his seat by the side of 0:28:08.840 --> 0:28:11.600 the gate, and his neck was broken and he died. 0:28:11.920 --> 0:28:16.080 For the man was old and heavy. He had judged 0:28:16.119 --> 0:28:18.919 Israel for forty years. Holly, how long have you and 0:28:18.960 --> 0:28:24.679 Stephen been leading Elevation? Sixteen so forty years double what 0:28:24.840 --> 0:28:28.840 you've plowed here. Forty years. Eli has been leading Israel. 0:28:28.880 --> 0:28:35.720 He's been their spiritual leader, and this is his epetah. 0:28:35.760 --> 0:28:38.480 He's standing on a chair waiting to hear about the 0:28:38.600 --> 0:28:41.680 Ark of the Covenant. And because he's a chunk, because 0:28:41.680 --> 0:28:43.960 he's been eating all that meat he's not supposed to 0:28:43.960 --> 0:28:47.480 to eat, he's heavy, and he's so flustered when the 0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:50.000 messenger comes back and says, I'm so sorry, the ark 0:28:50.040 --> 0:28:52.560 has been stolen, and your son's both died in battle, 0:28:52.600 --> 0:28:54.880 and he remembers the prophecy of God saying your sons 0:28:54.920 --> 0:28:56.200 are not going to live. You're not going to have 0:28:56.240 --> 0:28:58.640 any old men in your family tree. He falls off 0:28:58.680 --> 0:29:01.080 the chair and breaks his neck. That's not Jerry Springer, 0:29:01.120 --> 0:29:06.640 that's the Bible. That's called consequence. That's consequence of not 0:29:06.760 --> 0:29:10.520 going yes, sir, not my will but yours, which even 0:29:10.600 --> 0:29:12.760 Jesus said in the Garden of Guessimone, I don't know 0:29:12.800 --> 0:29:15.200 why we think we can shirk that anymore. And our 0:29:15.280 --> 0:29:19.400 Jesus is my bumper sticker society. I know, humility isn't 0:29:19.440 --> 0:29:22.400 trending because we're so preoccupied with my brand and my 0:29:22.560 --> 0:29:26.480 choice and my preference. Y'all. It never stop trending. In 0:29:26.480 --> 0:29:29.959 the scripture, God tells them over and over again, you're 0:29:30.040 --> 0:29:31.640 my people. I love you. You're my people. I love you. 0:29:31.600 --> 0:29:33.360 You're my people. I love you. I made away for you. 0:29:33.400 --> 0:29:37.640 Be reconciled with me. Now I'm God. You're not. I'm God, 0:29:37.640 --> 0:29:44.000 and you're not. Humility. Humility is it is key to 0:29:44.160 --> 0:29:49.560 intimacy with Jesus. Phineas one of the Fat Dead Boys wives. 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:54.480 She's pregnant and when she hears her husband has been 0:29:54.560 --> 0:29:57.120 killed in battle and she sees her father in law 0:29:57.280 --> 0:30:01.640 topple over and die, she's spontaneously gives birth. She has 0:30:01.680 --> 0:30:07.240 a spontaneous birth, and she's so traumatized by what has 0:30:07.280 --> 0:30:10.080 happened that she doesn't immediately bond with the baby. The 0:30:10.120 --> 0:30:12.560 women around her have to care for the baby, and 0:30:12.600 --> 0:30:14.440 they say, but but you need to rejoice, You need 0:30:14.480 --> 0:30:16.680 to rejoice. You had a son. We know you lost 0:30:16.720 --> 0:30:18.680 your husband, you lost your friendly, but you had a son. 0:30:19.160 --> 0:30:23.800 And she says, name him ikabod kobad means where has 0:30:23.880 --> 0:30:28.440 the glory gone? One word in English is in glorious. 0:30:29.040 --> 0:30:35.160 The name cavode in Hebrew means glory, glory. Cavode also 0:30:35.240 --> 0:30:42.320 means chubby, juppy, same word for physical weight as for glory. Y'all. 0:30:42.360 --> 0:30:45.680 The bottom line of this Jerry Springer tail is our 0:30:45.800 --> 0:30:50.880 shoulders are not shaped to carrie divine glory when we 0:30:50.960 --> 0:30:53.880 think it's all about us. If you aren't careful, it 0:30:53.960 --> 0:30:59.040 will crush you. Our shoulders are not shaped to carry 0:30:59.080 --> 0:31:03.000 God's glory. I worry sometimes in the culture we have 0:31:03.120 --> 0:31:06.720 that's so focused on platform and entertainment, I think, oh, Lord, 0:31:06.840 --> 0:31:11.800 protect them, because when we start thinking I'm the conduit 0:31:11.880 --> 0:31:15.440 for God's glory, I'm like, no, baby, you better get 0:31:15.440 --> 0:31:18.160 out of the way. You had better get out of 0:31:18.160 --> 0:31:21.120 the way. Because God doesn't play with human pride. He 0:31:21.280 --> 0:31:24.840 just doesn't. And if human pride leads to an appetite, 0:31:25.160 --> 0:31:29.960 that says my stomach is more important than God's will. Y'ah, 0:31:30.000 --> 0:31:34.160 we are going to have some consequences that we haven't 0:31:34.240 --> 0:31:39.200 begun to fear. I'm usually not a fire and brimstone 0:31:39.280 --> 0:31:41.600 kind of girl. Again, I love the grace of God, 0:31:42.160 --> 0:31:44.760 but at that age I am. Sometimes I look at 0:31:44.760 --> 0:31:49.480 culture and I go, we have forgotten. We have forgotten 0:31:49.560 --> 0:31:52.680 the glory of God, and we're taking too much of 0:31:52.720 --> 0:31:58.240 it for ourselves. I watched a documentary recently and it 0:31:58.280 --> 0:32:03.440 was about Dennis Raider, the BTK serial killer, and he 0:32:03.600 --> 0:32:07.200 had a killing spree over about twenty years. They know 0:32:07.280 --> 0:32:09.600 definitively he killed ten people, one of them a nine 0:32:09.640 --> 0:32:13.040 year old little boy. But the whole time he was 0:32:13.080 --> 0:32:16.880 doing these heinous things in the dark, he was a 0:32:17.000 --> 0:32:21.600 leader in his church, and they asked him about that duplicity, 0:32:22.280 --> 0:32:25.280 and he talked about pride. He just said, I wanted 0:32:25.320 --> 0:32:29.520 people to know who I was. I wanted people to 0:32:29.600 --> 0:32:31.720 be impressed with me. I wanted to be a big 0:32:31.760 --> 0:32:34.600 man on campus. And I thought, we have no idea 0:32:34.720 --> 0:32:38.680 what our pride leads to. It leads to destruction. If 0:32:38.720 --> 0:32:41.520 I could hang my hat on one thing that I've 0:32:41.560 --> 0:32:45.000 had the privilege of witnessing in thirty plus years of 0:32:45.040 --> 0:32:49.000 vocational ministry. Something that happened about fifteen years ago at 0:32:49.000 --> 0:32:52.120 an event in Orlando was a women's conference that wasn't 0:32:52.120 --> 0:32:55.920 in a stained glass window kind of church, thankfully, it 0:32:56.000 --> 0:32:59.800 was actually in a holiday and we walked into this 0:33:00.000 --> 0:33:03.560 holiday inn and it was leaders from all around the country, 0:33:03.720 --> 0:33:06.720 all women, and I had the underserved privilege to be 0:33:06.760 --> 0:33:09.760 one of the teachers at this event. And we were 0:33:09.800 --> 0:33:13.800 all in the pre event time, gripping and grinned in time. 0:33:14.080 --> 0:33:15.800 And there was one woman I wanted to meet more 0:33:15.800 --> 0:33:17.760 than anybody else in the room because she was carrying 0:33:17.760 --> 0:33:20.560 a baby. And I've had baby fever since I was 0:33:20.560 --> 0:33:22.959 probably thirty years old. Didn't think I'd ever become a 0:33:22.960 --> 0:33:27.880 mom because my history romantically is a train wreck because 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:30.480 I was just scared, slammed to death of intimacy, a 0:33:30.480 --> 0:33:32.520 lot of abuse in my background, So that was kind 0:33:32.560 --> 0:33:36.360 of It's kind of where my fault setting has often 0:33:36.400 --> 0:33:40.200 been set on abusive men and the good guys like y'all. 0:33:41.320 --> 0:33:48.480 Y'all God protected y'all from me. That was just hot mess. Express. Anyway, 0:33:48.920 --> 0:33:51.680 I went up and I told this woman, I said, 0:33:51.720 --> 0:33:53.760 I want to meet you, but I need to confess 0:33:53.800 --> 0:33:56.200 my ulterior motive. I'm really coming over to meet your baby. 0:33:56.760 --> 0:33:59.000 And she grinned and she said, well, my name's Molly, 0:33:59.120 --> 0:34:01.360 and then she down and she said, and this is 0:34:01.480 --> 0:34:05.080 Elijah said his name was Elijah, and yeah, sometimes a 0:34:05.200 --> 0:34:07.720 mama says their child's name, and even with a child 0:34:07.800 --> 0:34:09.560 or a daddy, if the child is sleeping, they wake 0:34:09.640 --> 0:34:11.879 up when they hear their parents' voice. When she said 0:34:11.880 --> 0:34:15.040 and this is Elijah, he just went he just woke up. 0:34:15.560 --> 0:34:19.160 And my first thought was, what a pumpkin, because he 0:34:19.239 --> 0:34:23.600 had this shock of just white hair. You know, sometimes 0:34:23.640 --> 0:34:26.960 Caucasian babies, no matter how much spit the mama uses, 0:34:27.000 --> 0:34:29.920 they just can't get their hair to lay down. He 0:34:30.080 --> 0:34:32.560 had this like little mohawk of white hair and then 0:34:32.800 --> 0:34:35.800 huge blue eyes, and I thought, oh, what a beautiful boy. 0:34:36.480 --> 0:34:38.560 And then my second thought was, I wonder if this 0:34:38.600 --> 0:34:41.600 has been a difficult season for Molly, because it was 0:34:41.760 --> 0:34:44.960 very apparent Elijah had down syndrome. And she began to 0:34:44.960 --> 0:34:48.160 tell me your story. She's my age, much older, and 0:34:48.200 --> 0:34:50.319 she said they didn't plan on the third child. She 0:34:50.360 --> 0:34:53.200 has two grown kids. But she said, we trust God. 0:34:53.280 --> 0:34:56.160 We trust God as sovereign. We know that he wove 0:34:56.239 --> 0:34:59.719 our family to include Elijah. But then she said, but 0:34:59.800 --> 0:35:03.719 it's it's been a tough season. She said she hadn't 0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:05.680 slept through the night since they had brought Elijah home 0:35:05.680 --> 0:35:07.760 from the hospital because he had a lot of medical 0:35:07.760 --> 0:35:10.560 issues and he wasn't sleeping much. They were struggling a 0:35:10.600 --> 0:35:13.719 little bit financially because of those medical issues, and she 0:35:13.840 --> 0:35:16.760 just said, it's been a tough season, and we trust 0:35:16.760 --> 0:35:19.040 the Lord, but it's been a hard season. And I 0:35:19.080 --> 0:35:23.799 was so grateful for her honesty, because I think sometimes 0:35:23.800 --> 0:35:26.200 our pride is just a smoke screen because we won't 0:35:26.200 --> 0:35:29.719 say I'm struggling. I think some of the no I'm 0:35:29.760 --> 0:35:33.279 good is actually we're afraid if we go I'm not 0:35:33.880 --> 0:35:37.160 so good. We're afraid somebody will pull the switch string 0:35:37.200 --> 0:35:40.800 and the whole sweater will unravel. And y'all, that's not church, 0:35:40.880 --> 0:35:45.000 by the way, Church is I'm dying today, Will you 0:35:45.080 --> 0:35:46.840 take a corner of my mount and carry me to 0:35:46.880 --> 0:35:53.080 the roof and lower me to Jesus neediness? Neediness is 0:35:53.120 --> 0:35:57.880 actually a spiritual necessity. So some of y'all aren't prideful 0:35:57.880 --> 0:36:00.680 because you're arrogant. You're prideful because you're just geared slammed 0:36:00.680 --> 0:36:03.759 to death. Somebody's going to look under the hood. So 0:36:03.760 --> 0:36:06.240 Molly said, it's been a tough season. She wasn't maudling, 0:36:06.360 --> 0:36:08.320 she ain't gone and on didn't air any dirty laundry. 0:36:08.360 --> 0:36:11.040 She's just honest. Well, then all of a sudden, the 0:36:11.080 --> 0:36:14.240 conference was over. It was a Friday Saturday conference. Saturday afternoon, 0:36:14.280 --> 0:36:16.560 I'm out in the foyer the hotel talking with some women. 0:36:17.000 --> 0:36:18.759 Molly comes walking up and asked me if i'll sign 0:36:18.800 --> 0:36:20.720 a book for her, and I was like, oh, sure, 0:36:20.719 --> 0:36:23.880 I'd love to. Was I'm writing in her book. The 0:36:23.920 --> 0:36:26.719 women I'd been chatting with continue to converse, and I 0:36:26.800 --> 0:36:29.040 accidentally wrote one of the words they said out loud 0:36:29.320 --> 0:36:32.520 into Molly's book in black sharpie because I have a 0:36:32.520 --> 0:36:34.760 little bit of add and I was like, oh snap, 0:36:35.000 --> 0:36:37.680 because I've written this mistake word in her book in 0:36:37.760 --> 0:36:39.400 big black manship market and I didn't know how to 0:36:39.400 --> 0:36:42.000 fix it. And I said, oh man, I really liked her. 0:36:42.040 --> 0:36:44.360 I so enjoyed the conversation last night. I've totally defaced 0:36:44.360 --> 0:36:47.319 her book. And then from seemingly out of nowhere, I 0:36:47.400 --> 0:36:50.759 remembered a verse that included the mistake word, and I 0:36:50.840 --> 0:36:54.120 was like, score. You know, I'll make this all like 0:36:54.280 --> 0:36:56.839 pinteresty and do it up around it, make it look 0:36:56.880 --> 0:36:58.480 like I meant to do that word in there, which 0:36:58.520 --> 0:37:01.200 is exactly what I did. Closed the book. We talked 0:37:01.239 --> 0:37:02.839 a minute more. I hugged her. She left it didn't 0:37:02.840 --> 0:37:04.480 think i'd ever see her again. We live four or 0:37:04.520 --> 0:37:08.719 five states away. Maybe ten minutes later, I see her 0:37:08.760 --> 0:37:10.840 turn back in the lobby and start walking toward me, 0:37:11.080 --> 0:37:14.360 very appearent she's been crying. And she walked up and 0:37:14.400 --> 0:37:17.439 she went, Lisa, I just got to tell you what 0:37:17.520 --> 0:37:19.759 that verse you wrote in my book meant to me. 0:37:20.400 --> 0:37:23.880 And I said, oh, God, come it, because sometimes I 0:37:23.920 --> 0:37:27.279 get the addresses mixed up of verses, or sometimes I'll 0:37:27.320 --> 0:37:30.720 read like a really resonant bumper sticker and I'll quote 0:37:30.719 --> 0:37:33.440 that as a verse. I don't mean to, but you 0:37:33.480 --> 0:37:36.080 know how, you'll just get things mixed up. And I thought, 0:37:36.280 --> 0:37:38.800 I probably, you know, put something there from People magazine 0:37:38.880 --> 0:37:42.040 or something. And she said, do you remember last night 0:37:42.080 --> 0:37:44.040 when I kind of told you our story about Elijah? 0:37:44.040 --> 0:37:46.680 And I said, oh, I remember everything, and she said, well, 0:37:46.680 --> 0:37:49.520 I didn't tell you the whole story. She said, it's 0:37:49.560 --> 0:37:52.319 been more than a hard season. She has been more 0:37:52.320 --> 0:37:54.400 than hard. She said, I feel like my prayers are 0:37:54.480 --> 0:37:58.000 hitting the ceiling. I know the theology in my head, 0:37:58.040 --> 0:37:59.920 but emotionally, I feel like God is a million miles well, 0:38:00.880 --> 0:38:03.600 she said, I'm just really, really struggling. And she said, 0:38:03.640 --> 0:38:06.160 my husband told me I really needed to come to 0:38:06.239 --> 0:38:09.319 this event, but I didn't want to come. She said, 0:38:09.320 --> 0:38:12.879 I just couldn't do perky. I just couldn't do it. 0:38:13.560 --> 0:38:15.480 So she said, finally we made a deal and I 0:38:15.480 --> 0:38:17.200 told him I would come, but I wouldn't drive with 0:38:17.239 --> 0:38:19.880 anybody else. I didn't want to make small talk. And 0:38:19.920 --> 0:38:22.520 she said, the whole way here, she's a four hour drive, 0:38:22.560 --> 0:38:25.320 and the whole way here, I've just been begging God 0:38:25.480 --> 0:38:29.400 for that. You know, sometimes you want that tangible thing, 0:38:29.840 --> 0:38:32.839 maybe Pastor Stevens preaching. You go, Oh my heavens, he's 0:38:32.880 --> 0:38:35.960 been reading my emails. He knows exactly where I am. 0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:40.280 You just want that that personal, personal message from the Lord. 0:38:40.480 --> 0:38:43.080 And she said the conference has been fine, but I 0:38:43.120 --> 0:38:46.440 didn't get it. She said, quite frankly, when everything concluded, 0:38:46.480 --> 0:38:48.800 I was a little disappointed because I just didn't get 0:38:48.880 --> 0:38:52.440 that word. I felt like I needed to kind of 0:38:52.480 --> 0:38:54.520 carry you on. I feel like I'm at a knot 0:38:54.640 --> 0:38:56.320 at the end of my rope and I just needed 0:38:56.920 --> 0:38:59.600 she needed something to help me hang on. And I 0:38:59.600 --> 0:39:02.120 just didn't get it. And she said, I was going 0:39:02.200 --> 0:39:05.719 back up to my hotel room, just get my suitcase. 0:39:06.120 --> 0:39:07.560 And she said when I got on the elevator where 0:39:07.560 --> 0:39:09.120 there were three other women on the elevator, and I 0:39:09.160 --> 0:39:11.080 didn't want to talk. I didn't want to make small talk. 0:39:11.480 --> 0:39:13.600 So she said, I just opened your books so they 0:39:13.640 --> 0:39:16.080 wouldn't say anything to me. I just pretended like I 0:39:16.120 --> 0:39:19.399 was reading. And she said, when I opened your book, 0:39:19.440 --> 0:39:22.000 I saw the verse you wrote in the front. And 0:39:22.040 --> 0:39:25.319 she said, I was so surprised that the verse you 0:39:25.400 --> 0:39:27.640 inscribed is the verse I chose when I was in 0:39:27.680 --> 0:39:32.080 campus crusade and college as my life verse. She said, Lis, 0:39:32.160 --> 0:39:34.680 I haven't thought of that verse in twenty five years. 0:39:35.040 --> 0:39:38.200 She said, that was so long ago I forgot. I 0:39:38.239 --> 0:39:40.040 saw it again, that that was the verse I chose. 0:39:40.080 --> 0:39:42.640 I was just trying to look spiritual. I chose kind 0:39:42.640 --> 0:39:45.840 of an obscure verse. And she said, out of all 0:39:46.239 --> 0:39:48.840 the verses in the Bible you could have written in 0:39:48.880 --> 0:39:51.719 the front of my book, you wrote that verse. And 0:39:51.760 --> 0:39:55.760 she said through that I sensed God's presence on the elevator, going, Molly, 0:39:56.040 --> 0:40:01.120 I'm right here. Nothing in your life is hidden from me. 0:40:01.200 --> 0:40:06.399 I'm right here. I see you. I've got you. She said, 0:40:06.400 --> 0:40:08.239 I just had to come back and say thank you. 0:40:09.120 --> 0:40:14.839 And I said, oh, Molly, it's a bigger miracle than 0:40:14.880 --> 0:40:20.360 you think. And I told her I was not being 0:40:21.080 --> 0:40:23.839 a good Bible teacher at that point. I wasn't being 0:40:23.880 --> 0:40:27.560 a sage prophet. All I was trying to do was 0:40:27.600 --> 0:40:30.480 cover up mistake. Truly. That was my only motive, was 0:40:30.480 --> 0:40:33.680 a cover up and mistake. And our God is so kind, 0:40:33.760 --> 0:40:38.279 and he's so good, and even in our pride, he 0:40:38.360 --> 0:40:44.279 was so redemptive. But he used even my mistake as 0:40:44.360 --> 0:40:48.720 a bridge to embrace, to encourage this beloved, exhausted daughter 0:40:48.880 --> 0:40:53.680 of his. Y'all, it has never ever been about us. 0:40:54.560 --> 0:40:58.040 I could stand up here for a weekest done Sundays 0:40:58.400 --> 0:41:00.960 and tell you miracle after miracle after miracle that I've 0:41:00.960 --> 0:41:04.479 seen in thirty five years, and none of them are 0:41:04.520 --> 0:41:11.759 connected to anything I carry. It's usually my lack, and 0:41:11.800 --> 0:41:16.400 it's God's largess. It's where his mercy seeps in the gaps. 0:41:16.480 --> 0:41:22.040 It's where his mercy covers it's where his kindness compensates. 0:41:22.840 --> 0:41:30.160 It's not all about us. We are not We are 0:41:30.200 --> 0:41:38.160 not containers of glory. We're calendars of grace. It leaks 0:41:38.200 --> 0:41:41.200 through us. It leaks through us. Can I ask you 0:41:41.239 --> 0:41:43.720 to bow your heads and close your eyes. Pastor Jonathan 0:41:43.840 --> 0:41:47.080 is gonna come up and close us. I feel like 0:41:47.160 --> 0:41:51.400 an ant in this house. I've such a deep affection 0:41:51.560 --> 0:41:56.400 for you, and I'm older than most of you, and 0:41:56.440 --> 0:41:59.200 I wish I was smart enough to have concise words 0:41:59.560 --> 0:42:06.440 to say, don't ever think less of yourself, but be 0:42:06.560 --> 0:42:13.840 preoccupied with Jesus. Be preoccupied with Jesus. Our shoulders aren't 0:42:13.880 --> 0:42:18.240 shaped for glory, y'all. It does not matter how many 0:42:18.280 --> 0:42:24.239 followers you have. It does not matter who's singing your praises. 0:42:24.320 --> 0:42:28.640 It doesn't matter how many accolades are on your press release. 0:42:28.840 --> 0:42:36.000 It doesn't matter. What matters is intimacy with Jesus. And 0:42:36.080 --> 0:42:41.560 if people clap lovely, it's fleeting. It won't carry you, 0:42:42.200 --> 0:42:45.759 and it doesn't honor God, whom we're preoccupied with our 0:42:45.800 --> 0:42:53.040 reputations and our appetite. Be preoccupied with Him. Well, Jesus. 0:42:53.080 --> 0:43:00.120 I pray for this house, this amazing anointed church that 0:43:00.200 --> 0:43:04.279 you love, that you blessed, that you poured favor on Lord. 0:43:04.320 --> 0:43:09.279 I pray that their DNA would would not just be Lord, 0:43:09.320 --> 0:43:11.120 a house where people are safe, in a house where 0:43:11.160 --> 0:43:14.960 people hear your gospel, in a house where people praise Jesus. 0:43:15.280 --> 0:43:19.320 I pray humility would be in their DNA. That people 0:43:19.360 --> 0:43:21.879 would be slow to take offense and quick to say 0:43:21.880 --> 0:43:25.000 I'm sorry, That people would be quick to step out 0:43:25.000 --> 0:43:27.480 of the way, so that you would be the biggest 0:43:27.920 --> 0:43:30.319 thing in the room, so that you would be the 0:43:30.400 --> 0:43:33.560 name on everyone's tongue. Lord, thank you, thank you, thank 0:43:33.640 --> 0:43:39.600 you that your mercy covers our weakness. Thank you, thank you, 0:43:39.719 --> 0:43:42.240 thank you that where we are weak, you are strong. 0:43:42.680 --> 0:43:45.080 Thank you, thank you, thank you that you don't turn 0:43:45.160 --> 0:43:49.160 your face from us when we're face down on the floor. 0:43:49.840 --> 0:43:52.640 Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord Jesus, that even 0:43:52.680 --> 0:43:57.279 though you know we're dust, you call us a royal priesthood, 0:43:57.960 --> 0:44:04.839 Lord imbue in this house humility, ingratitude, humility, ingratitude, that 0:44:04.880 --> 0:44:07.120 we would be quick to fall on our face and 0:44:07.200 --> 0:44:09.880 just say thank you, thank you again, thank you again. 0:44:09.960 --> 0:44:13.440 I remember, Jesus. I remember, I remember what you saved 0:44:13.480 --> 0:44:16.080 me from. I remember the days you saved me from 0:44:16.120 --> 0:44:19.800 myself and my appetite. Oh Lord Jesus, I want to 0:44:19.800 --> 0:44:23.440 be hungry for you, for I'm hungry for anything else. 0:44:23.640 --> 0:44:27.880 Bless these people, Lord Jesus. Give them more of you, 0:44:28.360 --> 0:44:31.879 increase their hunger for you. We love you, Jesus. Thank 0:44:31.920 --> 0:44:36.080 you that you never remove yourself from us. We love you, Jesus. Well, 0:44:36.120 --> 0:44:38.560 if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things 0:44:38.640 --> 0:44:41.879 I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, 0:44:42.200 --> 0:44:45.160 and review this podcast. You can also help us reach 0:44:45.239 --> 0:44:49.120 others by investing today at Elevationchurch dot org, slash gift 0:44:49.520 --> 0:44:52.320 and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast